A fellow ‘sailor’ gone but never forgotten

Published 10:00 am Sunday, March 15, 2015

We saluted the USS Ranger (CV-61) as it departed Bremerton for Brownsville,  Texas to be scrapped.

We are saddened to witness the passing of this great old carrier. Sure, it was inevitable, like death and taxes (Ranger was decommissioned in 1993). But we can’t help but feel the absence, like we’d feel the absence of an old shipmate who’s passed away.

What a great history. Ranger, built with an angled deck, was commissioned at Norfolk in 1957. Ranger’s career was distinguished by 13 battle stars earned during extensive service in the Pacific and in the Vietnam War. Ranger also saw action during the Persian Gulf War.

In its career, Ranger and its crew monitored French nuclear tests on Moruroa in French Polynesia, helped keep sea lanes open after the Gulf of Tonkin incident, engaged in lengthy combat operations against North Vietnam, flew the first sorties on Cambodia, and set a record number of strike sorties for one day in action against North Vietnam.

Post-Vietnam War, Ranger assisted in the evacuation of more than 1,900 people from flood-disaster areas of the Philippines (and helped deliver more than 370,000 pounds of relief supplies and 9,340 gallons of fuel), and at  least twice rescued Vietnamese refugees adrift at sea.

An all-female crew flying a C-1A Trader landed on Ranger’s flight deck, a  first. Ranger participated in the commemorative re-enactment of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, Japan, and made a historic port visit to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Ranger even as some entertainment credits on its record. Ranger was the venue for a televised Bob Hope USO Christmas show. Ranger appeared on television in “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” and in the films “Top Gun,” “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” and “Flight of the Intruder.”

Ranger served America and its interests well. And now Ranger passes into history. Bravo zulu, Ranger. You will never be forgotten.